Berkeley releases safety plan to rid schools of guns

The Berkeley Unified School District released a plan on Tuesday to improve security at the high school, but didn’t address one of the major recommendations made by the police – to put security officers in uniform.

The district will pay to have a police officer on campus five days a week instead of four; accelerate training for security officers; hire an independent agency to examine the district’s security procedures; create an ad hoc committee to examine whether to partially close the campus and require students to display identification badges; and install internal locks on classroom doors, among other changes. The measures will cost the district $89,000.

Berkeley High safety officers wear T-shirts with logos

But the long list of changes do not address concerns raised by the Berkeley police Department in a letter sent to Superintendent Bill Huyett on March 31. In the correspondence, Berkeley Police Chief Michael Meehan said his “top recommendation” for the security program is to put safety officers in uniform.

“We recommend all security personnel have a visible, uniformed appearance,” wrote Meehan. “Visible security personnel are a deterrent to non-students attempting to enter campus for unauthorized or illegal purposes. Additionally, this increases security personnel safety by ensuring responding police officers can easily recognize and coordinate with staff during incidents.”